Tsvi Tlusty 2008 Phys. Biol. 5 016001 doi:10.1088/1478-3975/5/1/016001
A simple model for the evolution of molecular codes driven by the interplay of accuracy, diversity and cost
Tsvi Tlusty
Show affiliationsMolecular codes translate information written in one type of molecule into another molecular language. We introduce a simple model that treats molecular codes as noisy information channels. An optimal code is a channel that conveys information accurately and efficiently while keeping down the impact of errors. The equipoise of the three conflicting needs, for minimal error load, minimal cost of resources and maximal diversity of vocabulary, defines the fitness of the code. The model suggests a mechanism for the emergence of a code when evolution varies the parameters that control this equipoise and the mapping between the two molecular languages becomes non-random. This mechanism is demonstrated by a simple toy model that is formally equivalent to a mean-field Ising magnet.
- PACS
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87.15.K- Molecular interactions; membrane-protein interactions
87.23.Kg Dynamics of evolution
87.23.Cc Population dynamics and ecological pattern formation
- Subjects
- Dates
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Issue 1 (March 2008)
Received 2 December 2007, accepted for publication 12 February 2008
Published 28 February 2008
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A simple model for the evolution of molecular codes driven by the interplay of accuracy, diversity and cost
Tsvi Tlusty 2008 Phys. Biol. 5 016001
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